It’s the last Monday of March, which means we have this and just four more weeks of Comic-Con International announced Special Guests for San Diego Comic-Con 2017 (Thursday 20th to Sunday 23rd July) – that’s another sixteen names, give or take, to add to the bill, as well as this grab-bag of stellar talent… Including a good friend of AEISD!*

Couple of non-surprises here as it just wouldn’t be Comic-Con without Mr. Lee – also, what with it being the 25th Anniversary of the launch of Image Comics, it’s not too much of a stretch to say he could make an appearance on a celebratory panel or two – and Maggie Thompson is an always welcome fixture -and-fitting of the show.

So, more names next week. We will be updating our Special Guests listings as the names are released – you’ll be able to find full bio for the artists, writers and creatives at our dedicated Utility Belt pages, here:

CHARLIE N. HOLMBERG

(Author: FOLLOWED BY FROST / THE PAPER MAGICIAN Trilogy)

Born in Salt Lake City, Charlie N. Holmberg is the author of FOLLOWED BY FROST; MAGIC BITTER, MAGIC SWEET; and THE PAPER MAGICIAN trilogy, which includes THE PAPER MAGICIAN, THE GLASS MAGICIAN, and THE MASTER MAGICIAN. A RITA Award finalist, she majored in English and minored in editing at Brigham Young University.

Raised a Trekkie alongside three sisters who also have boy names, Charlie plays the piano and ukulele, owns too many pairs of glasses, and hopes to one day adopt a dog.

Photo by: Erin Summerill

JAMES HUDNALL

(Writer: ESPERS / THE AGE OF HEROES / THE PSYCHO)

James Hudnall is a veteran comics writer with over 30 years in the comics business. He has worked for Marvel, DC, Image, Malibu’s Ultraverse, Eclipse, and many others. His main focus has been on his own creations such as Espers, The Age of Heroes, The Psycho, and Harsh Realm. He was also an early adapter of Japanese Manga and later Chinese comics to the English market.

Hudnall has also written novels such as Hell’s Reward and the nonfiction The Secrets of Writing. His latest comic, Blue Cat with artist Val Mayerik, is being collected in 2017, and his latest novel, Diogenes, is due out in 2017 as well.

Hudnall went to high school in San Diego, at Point Loma High and started attending SDCC in 1975. He has only missed 5 since. Aside from comics, James works as an Internet engineer and is developing social media videos.

JIM LEE

(Artist: SUICIDE SQUAD; DC Entertainment Co-Publisher)

Jim Lee is a renowned comic book artist and the co-publisher of DC Entertainment. In addition to his duties as co-publisher, he is the artist for many of DC Comics’ bestselling comic books and graphic novels, including JUSTICE LEAGUE: ORIGINS, BATMAN: HUSH, and SUPERMAN UNCHAINED.

He also served as the executive creative director for the DC Universe Online (DCUO) massively multiplayer action game from Daybreak Games, currently available free to play on PS4, PS3 and on Windows PC.

For his latest project, Lee is handling the art chores on the SUICIDE SQUAD comic book.

Photo by: Mike Jara Photography

MAGGIE THOMPSON

(Writer, editor, comics historian: COMIC BUYER’S GUIDE, TOUCAN BLOG)

Growing up in the post-World War II world, Maggie Thompson learned to read with the comic books she enjoyed. Such creators as Walt Kelly, Carl Barks, and John Stanley told the stories she kept, and she kept them because there were no comics in libraries.

In the 1960s, she and fellow science fiction fan Don Thompson pioneered in the world of comics fan publishing. She went on to co-edit COMIC BUYER’S GUIDE for three decades; these days, she writes online columns for Comic-Con International and Gemstone Publishing.